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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 90.9 pts. and median of 91 pts. in 83 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Keeping It Real on 3/23/2018 & rated 93 points: That Shafer fruit. Although 2003 was a disaster for most of Napa Valley, it was a good year for Shafer wines. Remember RP gave the 2003 Hillside Select 100pts. Maybe they picked the grapes before the rain or I don't know. Anyway, I had pretty high hopes for this one (although RP gave the 2003 Merlot 90pts).
Straight from pop and pour, the smell was so-so but improved as I swirled it around a couple times. First sip, whoa nice. Seamless entry and exit on the back end. Delicious fruit with a hint of umami. Then I remember, ah, it's that Stag's Leap fruit. This was a treat.
On a side note, I finished the whole bottle by myself and had a couple shots of whiskey afterwards. I am writing this review with an intense hangover. Cheers. (2005 views) | | | Tasted by iamandyc on 1/4/2014 & rated 93 points: Awesome merlot in the Cali style. Big, velvety, balanced with nice structure. Long finish with notes of chocolate. Nice nose. No rough edges. Sorry to see my last one go. (5507 views) | | | Tasted by pinchertwo on 2/9/2013 & rated 93 points: Smooth for the wine. Opened up very nicely. Wine thAt I will buy more of. (6269 views) | | | Tasted by iamandyc on 8/19/2012 & rated 91 points: Better on Day 1 than Day 3. Dark fruits on nose and palate with light vanilla. Some earthiness. Well balanced and long finish. Silky with nice acids and structure. By Day 3 there is a port-like quality starting to emerge - probably due to indifferent storage. (6961 views) | | | Tasted by yipen on 12/4/2011 & rated 90 points: in Niujiangjun, this wine is powerful yet balance, it is fruity and dense but shows no alc heat. It changed my idea of a merlot. Nice wine to pair with steak. (7761 views) | | | Tasted by Daffo on 11/28/2011: Sunday dinner. Good fruity nose. Very good palate, balanced and nice. Really enjoyed it. Drinking very well now. (6799 views) | | | Tasted by mchiew on 9/11/2011 & rated 92 points: Let the bottle opened and decanted for over 3 hrs and drank over 2 hrs. Very prominent fruity, berry and vanilla nose. On the palate, it shows its depth and complexity. Very long, silky and balanced mouth feel. All of us enjoyed this beautiful bottle! (3600 views) | | | Tasted by absolutvodka on 6/12/2011 & rated 94 points: Outstanding merlot. (3314 views) | | | Tasted by cknibb on 4/22/2011 & rated 91 points: PnP had touch of tar on noise, opened up with time to more fruit and floral notes. Ready to drink now. Balanced and very enjoyable. (3033 views) | | | Tasted by MurphyCellar on 2/14/2011 & rated 92 points: Rich, silky, deep berry and beautifully balanced. (3227 views) | | | Tasted by TheRikker on 1/1/2011 & rated 91 points: Shows more like a right bank Bordeaux than a Cali Merlot. (1266 views) | | | Tasted by msitka999 on 12/11/2010 & rated 93 points: Wow! Open 2 hrs before trying. Fruit nose, plum with cassis and a touch of penguin fur. Very structured, drinking terrific now, look for some improvement if left open 3-4 hours. (3604 views) | | | Tasted by gzim on 12/2/2010 & rated 89 points: not at all what I expect as a Cali Merlot, and that's a compliment. This wine has very nice depth, some deep dark (compote) fruit, with some leather, and a woodsiness.
Nice finish, paired very well with a rack of lamb. (3580 views) | | | Tasted by QSilver on 11/4/2010 & rated 92 points: Still outstanding! The one that started our love affair with Shafer. Had at dinner with M, A, and T. (92) (3584 views) | | | Tasted by beezer6 on 7/9/2010 & rated 87 points: Decanted for 1 hour. Dark stewed red fruit. Little bit of woody action on the nose too coupled with some strong spice and leather too. More of a Cabernet Sauv styling than Merlot...really no soft textured chocolately or vanilla godness I expect from Shafer Merlot. Palate is hot with more alcohol showing than desired. Medium dark spicy raspberries, tomato juice (weird) and some charred oak. Not my favorite vintage of their Merlot. (4021 views) | | | Tasted by tplskylrk on 3/19/2010: TWATS VIII (Simmy's Pink Palace): Darkish. Beautiful nose. Oak barrel. White & milk Chocolate, blue fruit. Cali for sure! Love the nose! Glycerin on the palate, and great mouth feel. Sim pontificates that 5 & 1 are second cousins. A big bastard.
II. Sweet, alch., hotish. Gaining weight, smoky oaky and a pronounced milk chocolate nose. Niccce. Balanced, will be excellent. Young & gangly like a 16 year old, but approachable in a perverted sort of way. (5002 views) | | | Tasted by Mark on 1/22/2010 & rated 88 points: Very nice bottle of merlot, balanced, although a bit light on fruit. Previous tasting of this was back in 2005, and I think this has faded slightly since. Consumed over 2 hours, pretty consistence over that time. (4430 views) | | | Tasted by TheRikker on 12/31/2009 & rated 91 points: This drinks more like a right bank Bordeaux than a Cali merlot. (3432 views) | | | Tasted by Tarrant on 9/12/2009 & rated 90 points: Awesome, but next to the Keenan 25th Anniversary Merlot it was a bit on the light side, that said it was quite tasty - Dark, full/medium bodied with a nose of sour cherry, plum, cedar, spice and vanilla, complex, balanced, sweet/sour on the palate with very good length (90 Points). (4561 views) | | | Tasted by TannicBeast on 5/22/2009 & rated 91 points: Dark black fruit and alcohol; oaky. Full- bodied with fairly tight tannins; a little herb or green olive on the finish. It could easily pass for a light Napa cab. (4596 views) | | | Tasted by TFAH on 4/26/2009 & rated 91 points: Bottle age has helped this wine. Dark fruits and coffee notes jump from the galss. Well integrated and probably as good as it will get. Drink it up. (4830 views) | | | Tasted by paulst on 11/28/2008 & rated 88 points: Nicely balanced blackberry mocha. (4909 views) | | | Tasted by sgtam on 5/25/2008 & rated 94 points: Shafer makes great wine and this bottle is no exception. We drink this with our BBQ ribs and it powered right through the sauce. (Our first bottle was a Turley Zin) This Merlot is better than many Cab's that we drink. (5526 views) | | | Tasted by Tejano on 1/6/2008: Dark purple and more dark berries...some blueberry notes this time around, with a touch of chocolate. Easy entry a very fruit forward grip that was almost fat, but balanced on the end with a light tannic framework that helped the finish. Paired well with charcoal grilled ribeyes... (5549 views) | | | Tasted by drcbarroso on 1/5/2008 & rated 91 points: Dark purple in color. Nice nose of plum, cedar, and currant. Palate confirms. Good acidity, although it could have used a bit more. Medium finish with some nice oaky tones. Nice wine. (5998 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, January/February 2006, IWC Issue #124
(Shafer Vineyards Merlot Napa Valley Stags Leap District) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous. (manage subscription channels) |
| Shafer Producer website
John Shafer and his family founded Shafer Vineyards, located in the Stags Leap District of the Napa Valley, in 1979. From the Shafers' first wine, a 1978 Cabernet Sauvignon,
their wines have won much acclaim. Today, the Shafers farm 200 acres of vineyard in the Stags Leap District, Carneros and Oak Knoll regions. Their flagship wine, Hillside Select,
is produced from selected blocks of the family's hillside vineyards and is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. They also produce Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay, Merlot, One Point Five
(Cabernet Sauvignon) and Relentless (a Syrah/Petite Sirah blend), which was named #1 wine of the year by Wine Spectator's "Top 100" of 2012.MerlotMerlot is a dark blue–colored wine grape variety, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to be a diminutive of merle, the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color of the grape. Its softness and "fleshiness", combined with its earlier ripening, makes Merlot a popular grape for blending with the sterner, later-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon, which tends to be higher in tannin.USAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Napa Valley Napa Valley Wineries and Wine (Napa Valley Vintners)Napa ValleySt. Helena |
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